My 13 year old son finished the book yesterday and he loved it. He is passing it on to one of his friends and I have bought a copy to donate to the school library.

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Ian O'Shea, Jacob Black, Marcus Flutie, Ron Weasley, Dave the Laugh....MY HEROES!!!

I had a really tough time with the first few chapters of the book, just because it was negative. I read as an escape (I may have said this before..) and this wasn't much for that. Once I got into the story, I began to appreciate Junior's strength and determination. He fought hard to do what he realized would be best for his life. He dealt with blows that I can't even imagine and managed to really figure out the best way to handle his obstacles and learn/grow from them. It's amazing to see such insight in a 14 year old boy. With lots of humor to make it all survivable. I appreciate the recommendation.

I couldn't help but compare this book to one that I read with another book club last year. It is called Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine that integrated Central High School Arkansas to begin integration. It was a definite contrast and I was pleased to see how the students responded to Junior as opposed to how the students responded to the blacks that entered their high school in the 50's.

I really liked this book, it was an easy read and I was impressed at how it was so funny and sad at the same time. I also found two quotes that I liked enough to post here--

“If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.” p.129

I think this is so true, that many times we don't give others a chance because of stereotypes or we because frankly, we are too scared to let others inside our world. But when if and when we do, we may find some amazing friends.

One more...
“I used to think the world was broken down by tribes, … by black and white. By Indian and white. But I know that isn’t true. The world is only broken into two tribes: The people who are a**holes and the people who are not.” p.176

I also paused for a moment when I read this and was stuck by the validity of this statement. We are the same no matter what color our skin is or where we are from. We are all humans (ok except Edward and the other vamps ha-ha) in this crazy adventure together and we can choose to be a**holes or not. But... going back to the first quote, we need to let others into our lives first to decide whether they are an "Angela" or a "Lauren". I'm sure you know who fits each description!

inspiredbytwilight wrote:

So I loved this book too. I was telling my husband I was a little disappointed at how crude it was at times but I liked the character. And the fact that it is based on the authors actual life makes it all the more interesting to me. Not something he just made up but something that happened to him! Yes I could definately have done without the language and masturbating comments but overall I liked it. I didn't think it was a woe is me book at all. Life sucked but he rose above it.

Who is the author? What's his name? I haven't found the book yet.

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I really liked this book. To me, it reads a lot like a Chris Crutcher (most of his lead characters are boys in their early teens, too.)

I loved that Junior's whole life was turned around because one person said that he believed in him; that the labels everyone had been trying to stick on him really didn't fit.

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9/20/08

I loved this book! I loved Junior's sense of humor and his determination to rise above everything around him. I have already passed the book on to my mom to read, and would definately get it for my son when he gets older(he's only four ). The language and crudeness did not bother me. I think this book has such a hopeful message! Loved it, loved it, loved it!

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" And so the lion fell in love with the lamb..."
"What a stupid lamb", I sighed.
"What a sick, masochistic lion."-Twilight

CaliCat wrote:

Well, here I am....once again the minority of the group. I actually liked this book! I thought it was cute. The language was definitely crude at times, but I thought it was hilarious. (the 'tree fag' line killed me!!) I didn't mind the "poor me" throughout the book. I mean, if you're a poor indian living on the rez with a lisp and water on the brain, I think you're entitled to moan. But I loved that Junior was brave enough, despite all of his flaws, to venture out of the reservation and find a new world..

Gotta agree with Calicat. I never got a woe-is-me feeling. I got the opposite which was a feeling of strength and rising above adversity. I would have loved a little less on the graphic language/image scale, but aside from that, this story has merit in the strength department. Gahl, I wake up with a headache, forget to pack somebody's snack or recall how many chores I didn't get done the day before, and I whine more than Junior ever did!

This book gets two thumbs up from me!

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I really loved this book. It was a weird mixture of being heavy but a quick read at the same time.
I did give it to my now 11 year old to read at music camp over the Easter holidays. I asked him if he had any questions and he said he already knew about the boy in the bathroom with the magazine stuff..... even here in remote parts of Scotland.... kids learn earlier than we want them to!

I really, really enjoyed the book.
His writing is real, and very deep.

Sadly, the crude language and actions,
are part of the world we live in.
And much of these actions are accepted
and condoned in MOST of the world.

The way he expressed his feelings, and
gut emotions was absolutely heart gripping...
It makes me wish I could help make a difference...
But, that is the beauty of the book.

He came to realize that he was the ONLY one who
COULD make a difference in his life. He chose to
rise above and DO IT. No matter the consequence.
He faced up, stood up, and did the best he could.

How many of us would be just as willing?

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~~~My Edward is actually a Sam~~~

*waving* Hi yoga! Glad to see you here! We haven't been in the same place in a while so I've missed seeing your posts.

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*waves*

Hi, back at ya...

We had to deal with a death in the family.
My husbands Mom passed away...
She had bravely fought cancer for 5 years...

It has almost been a month, and I am TRYING to get back to normal!

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~~~My Edward is actually a Sam~~~

I just got this from the library yesterday, and read it today. I loved it! I grew up really close to a reservation, the one his sister moved to in fact, and one thing I really liked about this book was it told the REAL story about life on the rez. So often people just assume things on reservations are fine now, it is just the stereotypes that survive. But let me tell you, he nailed it for how life there still is. We actually had a kid transfer to our highschool from the rez to play basketball when I was a senior. He was amazing, won the state championship for us almost singlehandedly. He went on to go to college, and do you know what happened? He dropped out before he ever played a single minute. He had his way out, but he got sucked back onto the reservation. The last I heard, he's still there, drunk, if he is even still alive. It has always bothered me so much that he had a college education handed to him on a silver platter, and he just tossed it away. So many kids wanted what was just given to him, and he just wasted it. Reading this book I began to understand a little bit about how that can happen. And for the very first time I feel just a little bit bad for him. OK rant over.

As far Junior goes, I loved his humor, I loved it's inappropriateness, I mostly hung out with boys at that age, and again, he nailed how teenage boys talk and behave, especially when they are not around thier mothers!

I loved, loved this book. I'm going to tell my husband to read it, I think he'll really like it too. And I know that I will encourage my sons to read it once they are older (7 and 4 seems a little young!) I hope that they take from it that they can do anything, and that no matter what you are dealt, it is how YOU handle it that makes the difference.

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"You are my life now."

My husband just finished reading this book and he really liked it too. I loved how as he was reading it I would look over at him on the couch and he would be reading with this huge grin on his face. He thought it was awfully funny. And I love that he actually read it! I've been trying to convince him to read the HP books for years and he still hasn't. I don't think I want him to read TW, right now that little world is all mine. But it's been fun to finally have a book that I was excited about reading to talk with him about!

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"You are my life now."

I just read this book and I really like it. It was an easy read.. finished in just a couple of hours. I found it funny and poignant at the same time. I don't mind crudeness. For a mom with two little kids.. I don't have the cleanest mouth. I try, but "Don't repeat me" is something I frequently say. So none of the crashness bothered me. I found it very realistic to how a 14yr old boy's mind would work. The fact that it's also a true story makes it even more interesting. It is great to see someone with nothing handed to them fight for a better life. Inspiring.

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"If we live through this I'll follow you anywhere, woman" -Garrett, BD